Geese attacked at Fairhope Duck Pond

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Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, it appears several of the geese that were wintering there have been attacked.

Local residents contacted The Courier with photos of the apparent attack Sunday morning, which they took while taking a walk in the area.

Various body parts and feathers litter the area, and the hundreds of geese that normally can be found around the park were nowhere to be seen. Two geese that managed to escape the attack were popular resident goose Garfield and his mate, who was injured earlier this year and was the subject of a community effort to get help from the Orange Beach Wildlife Center.

Fairhope Police Chief Stephanie Hollinghead said the police department had become aware of the attack.

“Right now, it looks like some sort of animal possibly did this,” Hollinghead said. “We’re going to continue to investigate the situation.”

Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson said the police department had advised her of the situation.

“Although this breaks my heart, I’ve been advised it was likely due to predators,” Wilson said. “Foxes and gators attacked the geese this time last year.”

Wilson said the city was looking into possibly placing cameras in the area in the future.

This is not the first time that geese located at the duck pond have come into problems.

Back in 2012, 41 geese were removed from the duck pond and ultimately euthanized as part of a possible solution to reduce water pollution in the area.

DNA testing was done in 2015 by Auburn University that showed the goose feces was a contributor to the contamination problem seen in some of the water near the public beach area.

In 2017, the Fairhope city council passed an ordinance banning people from feeding the geese that could be punishable with a fine of up to $500 and a possible six months in jail.